21 August 2012

SEYCHELLES : National League

Stars whip Juniors to close in on title

•
Cobras upset Baya to move to second place

Defending women’s league
champions Anse Etoile Stars closed in on defending their title won last season
after inflicting a heavy 91-19 defeat on Juniors during the weekend, while
Premium Cobras defeated Baya to move to second on the table.
With one round of matches remaining in the three-round league, Stars are the
number one favourites to win the title after registering a 100% winning streak
throughout the first two.
In case of defeats against rivals HotShots and Mont Fleuri in the third
round, the girls of coach Michel Malbrook will still add another piece of
silverware to their collection. They can only lose the title if they lose by
walk-over.
In Saturday’s match, Stars dominated all four quarters – 24-7, 13-0, 28-4 and
26-8 – with young Jana Malbrook contributing 23 points to lead the scoring.
Coach Malbrook praised his young players for their perfect league campaign so
far this season. He explained that the youngsters have brought more options to
their game and allow the more experienced players to take a break and recover
during matches.
He added that they are still adopting a strict training programme and this
will go on until they win the league title. After that, they will attempt
winning the Seychelles Basketball Federation (SBF) Cup for back-to-back
doubles.
Stars have now garnered 18 points from nine victories in as many
matches.Winless Juniors stay at the bottom of the table on eight points.In the men’s
division league, Premium Cobras have moved up to the second place on the table
following their 97-66 win over Baya. Cobras won the first two quarters 22-16 and
22-17 for a 44-33 half-time lead. In the second half, captain Amadou Sylla and
company switched to a stronger gear, dominating the last two quarters 28-17 and
26-16 to outpace Baya 97-66 at the final whistle.
Sylla and Dan Côme scored 21 points apiece to lead the scoring for the
Cobras, while captain Timmy Adam was Baya’s top scorer with 23 points.
Cobras now have 21 points from nine wins and three losses, while the defeat –
the fourth in 12 games – has left Baya in fifth position on 20 points.
In the Anse Boileau derby played during the weekend, Angels outscored
Drifters 85-73, bringing their points tally to 17. After five wins and seven
defeats they are now sixth on the table.

Barry Dubignon was Angels’
leading scorer with 20 points – the same total achieved by Drifters’ top scorer
Arnaud Arissol.
As for Drifters, they are occupying seventh spot on the league table. They
have 16 points from three wins and 10 defeats out of 13 matches.
Mont Buxton-based MBU Rockers were also among the winners during the weekend.
They defeated RC Dynamics 85-69, bringing their points tally to 21 after seven
wins and seven defeats.Pascal Bibi contributed 31 points to finish as
Rockers’ leading scorer, while Emmanuel Jupiter led Dynamics with 20 points.
Rockers are now in fourth spot, while Dynamics are eighth on 15 points from
two wins and 11 defeats.
Meanwhile, in the men’s league division two, leaders Praslin Warriors
collected a win and a loss in their two away matches played at Victoria
Gymnasium.
In their first match on Saturday, the Warriors lost 55-67 to second-placed
Beau Vallon Heat, while on Sunday they beat Juniors 76-36 to maintain top spot
with 21 points from nine wins and three losses.R. D.